On March 10, 2019, Tibetans and supporters staging a protest in front of the Chinese consulate as they commemorate the 1959 national uprising day against China's military occupation of Tibet. Photo: TPI/Yeshe Choesang

President of the Central Tibetan Administration, Dr Lobsang Sangay addressing the public on the 60th Anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day, in Dharamshala, India, on March 10, 2019. Photo: CTA

Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama, Former Botswana President addressing the official commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of Tibetan National Uprising Day in Dharamshala, 10 March 2019. Photo: CTA/Tenzin Jigme

Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam who started the DIFF speaking at Upper TCV School in Dharamshala, India. The festival ended with the closing night screening of Aijaz Khan's 'Hamid' at the Hermann Gmeiner Auditorium. photo: TPI

President Dr Lobsang Sangay with the Thank You India Souvenir – A Dharmachakra representing the wheel of Universal Truth, at the press conference at Press Club of India on January 18, 2018. Photo: CTA/DIIR/Tenzin Phende

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Dr Lobsang Sangay President of the Central Tibetan Administration making the official announcement of the long-life prayer offering, during a press conference at Kashag Secretariat, Dharamshala, India, March 18, 2019. Photo/Tenzin Jigme/CTA

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Washington, DC — The updated version of rules put in place in 2005 passed by the Chinese government on Thursday (September 7) should be assessed against the background of a series of laws that can be viewed as a systematic development of a security architecture.

"China's revised regulations on religious affairs passed by the State Council this week intensify controls over religious activity and present a further threat to Tibetan Buddhists," said the International Campaign for Tibet based in Washington, DC.

Among those are the 2015 Security Law, the NGO Law (in force January 2017), the 2016 Counter Terrorism Law, and the Cyber Security Law (in force May 2017). These laws represent the Chinese Communist Party's will to gain maximum control over every aspect of people's lives.

While announcing the passage of the regulations, the official Chinese media said: "The regulation prohibits the use of religion as a tool to sabotage national security, social order or China's education system, or to damage ethnic unity or carry out terrorist activities."

This reflects China's intention to add ideas and notions of "state security", "religious extremism" and "terrorism" to the law, thereby linking religious activity directly to politically charged crimes. Thus, in conflating the law with these, the regulation will give scope for the penalization of almost any peaceful expression of Tibetan identity, acts of non-violent dissent, or criticism of ethnic or religious policies.

Chinese authorities have already been clamping down on normal Tibetan religious activities by maintaining that these are separatists or that they disrupt social order. This regulation will lead to an even more repressive situation — particularly in Tibet — that violates international human rights standards.

Given the far-reaching scope of the restrictions stated in the updated rules, the international community, United Nations bodies, governments and parliaments, must urge the Chinese government to bring this unacceptable legislation into conformity with international human rights standards.